An electronic exchange provides an automatic matching process between buyers and sellers, also referred to herein as traders. In particular, traders connect to an electronic exchange over a communication link. If necessary, a gateway is sometimes used to connect the trader with the electronic exchange. Once a trader is connected, the electronic exchange can broadcast its data feed to the traders over the communication link. Subsequently, the traders receive the data feed, in one form or another, and their computers process the information. Traders may respond by sending orders to buy or sell the tradeable object. When the electronic exchange receives an order, it may check the limits of the order, for example price and quantity, and prioritize the order. When buy and sell orders match, a trade occurs and information relating to the trade is relayed back to the traders' computers.
The kinds of information that are present in an electronic exchange's data feed are relatively dependent on the exchange itself. However, most electronic exchanges provide the same key pieces of information. For instance, they typically provide the best prices. This might include the best bid price, which represents the highest price that someone is willing to pay for the tradeable object, and the best offer price, which represents the lowest price that someone is willing to sell the tradeable object. A data feed might also include one or more levels of the next best prices such as the next highest bid price(s) or the next lowest ask price(s). Along with price information, an electronic exchange will likely provide the bid and offer quantities available at those prices. More advanced electronic exchanges may even provide things like the last traded price (“LTP”), the last traded quantity (“LTQ”), the previous day's settlement price, the open price, the close price and other information.
The data feed's content can be displayed to a trader using a variety of different formats, any of which would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art. To provide the reader with a general background, two examples are provided directly below, with the understanding that many different formats and variations of the example screens shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 exist and could also be used.
In one example, FIG. 1 illustrates a typical display 100 used in electronic trading. A trading screen similar to that shown in FIG. 1 is commercially available, as the Market window in the X_Trader® product offered by Trading Technologies International, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. In general, display 100 has an order entry section 102 and a market grid section 104. The order entry section 102 may have pre-set fields, properties, and buttons that can help someone trade quickly and efficiently. The market grid section 104 displays tradeable object information such as the tradeable objects name 106, number of working buy orders 108, bid quantities 110, bid prices 112, sell prices 114, sell quantities 116 and working sell orders 110. For instance, “object 1” is a tradeable object that has an inside market with a best bid price of “230” and a best offer price of “232.” The quantity available at the inside market is “15” at “230” and “10” at “232.” In another instance, “object 2” is another tradeable object that has an inside market with a best bid price of “190” and a best offer price of “192.” The quantity available at the inside market is “45” at “190” and “90” at “192.”
In another example, FIG. 2 illustrates an evolved and more intuitive trading screen 200. A trading screen similar to that shown in FIG. 2 is also commercially available, as MD Trader™, from Trading Technologies International, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. Trading screen 200 displays the same type of information as trading screen 100 in FIG. 1, except that it displays, among other things, bids 202 and offers 204 in association with price values along axis 206. Thus, a trader may view the market as it moves relative to price values on axis 206. Moreover, traders may enter orders quickly through trading screen 200 by simply clicking, with a mouse or some other input device, on specific areas on the screen associated with the price values.
In addition to viewing traditional-style trading screens, traders are often interested in analyzing other pieces of highly relevant information that are not normally provided in an electronic exchange's data feed nor displayed by a trading screen. For instance, they might make quick mental calculations, use charting software, or look to other sources to provide additional insight beyond what is normally provided by an exchange or a typical trading screen. Some even trade directly off this information. Regardless of what source or sources a trader might use, it may be too difficult for the trader to quickly assimilate this highly relevant information from diverse and often unrelated sources or even effectively process all of the information to make informed trades. In doing so, the trader must attempt to determine various trends in the buying or selling of the tradeable object to favorably characterize the market.
In the following detailed description, a system and method for displaying, on a trading screen, order information in relation to a derivative of price, and in particular, for displaying the derivative of price along an axis, are described. These tools provide advantages, as described below, to a trader in an electronic trading environment.